The
hovercraft station which today houses the Burnham-On-Sea
hovercrafts was built in a matter of hours in 1994 during
a flying visit by Anneka Rice and the crew from the popular
BBC TV show Challenge Anneka.

The
group behind the Burnham Area Rescue Boat (BARB) had been
formed in 1992 when it began fundraising for its own boat
house. In June 1994 Anneka Rice came to the rescue, building
a station on Burnham seafront in just 72 hours!

The
BBC's TV crew were on hand to record every part of the rapid
construction and the final TV show was broadcast on BBC1
a few months later in the prime-time Challenge Anneka
show.

The
series Challenge Anneka was devised by Anneka Rice
herself and actually started as a one-off for the BBC's
Children In Need appeal.

The
BBC were so impressed that they gave her a prime-time Saturday
slot on BBC1 which was shown between 1989 and 1994. A special
show was also aired on ITV1 on Boxing Day 2006. The show
instantly became a hit and followed up her earlier success
in Channel Four's Treasure Hunt.

While
the Burnham-On-Sea hovercraft house has had minor work done
on it in recent years, it still remains in place today and
serves as the HQ for Burnham-On-Sea's lifesaving hovercraft
rescue service.

BARB
President Neville Jones explained to Anneka Rice how the
BARB rescue boat was launched from Burnham jetty

Anneka
Rice cut a ribbon at the front of the newly-built BARB station
to officially open it in front of the Challenge Anneka
TV cameras

The
BBC team's construction work had begun on Monday June 13th,
2004...

Once
the foundations had been laid, the building started to take
shape...

...
and sprung up in just 72 hours, with every step of the process
being recorded by the Challenge Anneka TV cameras.

Huge
crowds flocked to the seafront to watch Anneka Rice open
the new building from a specially-built wooden stage.